Sometimes new words are born that are just plain puzzling.
And this is one of them.
The Collins Dictionary has it listed in its ‘new word suggestion’ section with the definition, ‘a member of a particular far-right American political movement.’
Writing in The Weekend Australian Greg Sheridan said that ‘Groyper is one of the ugliest terms in modern politics.’
He goes on to say that far-right, Jew-hating American extremist Nick Fuentes claims that he ‘and his followers named their Jew-hating group of campaigners Groypers, which they illustrate with the symbol of a slug-like frog.’
Still, it remains a puzzling word, doesn’t it?
The background seems to be that there is an internet meme called ‘Pepe the frog’, originated in 2005 by cartoonist Matt Furie as a green, anthropomorphic frog with a speech balloon saying ‘feels good man’ coming out of its mouth.
All of this ‘meme’ nonsense is beyond me (and possibly you as well) but it seems that simple-minded folk who have substituted being glued to screens in place of thinking like these little symbolic images they can repeat.
And further the ‘Pepe the frog’ image has been co-opted by the far-right racists in America as their chosen ‘meme’ or image.
A variation of Pepe known as ‘Groyper’ was used as early as 2015 and became popular in 2017.
So how come this word (or non-word?) was chosen to name this version of a cartoon frog as a far-right symbol?
No one seems to know.
Is it meant to be a play on the croaking sound that frogs make?
I’m guessing here.
Since ‘groypers’ are viciously anti-Jewish is it meant to be a play on a Yiddish word?
Perhaps a twist on the Yiddish word ‘goyim’ meaning ‘gentiles’ (non-Jews).
There is a slightly (very slightly!) similar word in Leo Rosten’s The Joys of Yiddish meaning ‘coarse, crude, uncouth, vulgar’—and perhaps these horrible ‘groypers’ delight in seeing themselves this way?
All I know for sure is that this is a horrible word for nasty people.
This afternoon I will have a guest spot on Michael McLaren's afternoon show on 2GB (12noon to 3pm).
TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER SCROLL FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE >>>>>>
BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
